Year in Review: SAFE Glen Cove Coalition and TAC

Upon reflection, 2019 was another fruitful year for the Tobacco Action Coalition (TAC) and SAFE in bringing tobacco awareness and working towards advancing a tobacco free community.

In the partnerships continuing efforts to curb youth initiation, the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition and Carol Meschkow, Manager of TAC partnered with the Glen Cove School District for youth engagement activities to draw attention to the need to reduce youth’s exposure to tobacco marketing for three major days of tobacco awareness; Kick Butts Day, World No Tobacco Day and the Great American Smoke Out.

This year's efforts were further expanded to include the Middle School Health Classes and SAFE’s evidence-based Life Skills Training administered via the Youth Bureau’s After 3 program. Youth learned all about the efforts and money the tobacco lobby spends to market their deadly products youth are exposed to on a daily basis. The students also learned about emerging products as the debaccle over the vaping epidemic is spiraling. Ms. Meschkow is most proud of the work of the Middle School and After 3 Youth particularly as the average age of a new smoker in New York is only 13 years old.

In addition, TAC has been busy working with the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition attending strategic planning sessions, assisting with annual Family Awareness Day and providing research based and legislative news regarding local regulation of vaping products to interface and educate the families of the City of Glen Cove on the dangers of tobacco, and positive solutions. This salient information can be found on the Vaping Facts and Myths page of SAFE’s website. For example, this year we saw Nassau County’s successful passage of tobacco advertising restrictions within 1000 feet of schools and youth facilities, State level Tobacco 21, Nassau County’s recent ban on candy and fruit flavored e-liquid, and the Governors Executive Order (although blocked by the State Appellate Court) banning all e-liquid flavoring including mint and menthol. 2020 looks to be very bright with both State and Federal proposals to regulate flavoring.

The Mayor and the City Council have worked closely with SAFE and TAC – who provided educational and technical support- to adopt progressive legislation in the past few years. To protect the employees and visitors of City Hall, a new entryway ban was adopted that includes vaping and electronic devices.

As first line responders and as mentors for our youth, the Glen Cove Police Department Chief Whitton and Deputy Chief Ortiz adopted a tobacco free grounds policy for police headquarters that not only protects all visitors from the dangers of second hand smoke but most importantly are playing a significant role in changing to social norms associated with the acceptability of smoking.

For the last fifteen years the Coalition and TAC have collaborated together to promote a Tobacco Free Community. Several local stakeholders have partnered with the State’s Smoke Free Multi-Unit Housing initiative to ban smoking within the residents to protect tenants and homeowners from drifting smoke. These bans have gone one step further in also restricting smoking outdoors. Our newest community leader, Lisa Dorfman, Manager of Dixon Garden Apartments and 28 Pearsall Avenue, expanded smoke free living efforts to safeguard the health and well being of the residents. As with all other outdoor and multi-unit policies TAC has provided free signage to facilitate this process.

For more information about the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition visit SAFE at www.safeglencove.org, or follow us on: www.facebook.com/safeglencovecoalition.

To learn more about the harmful effects of tobacco visit: www.tobaccofreenys.org

or for help with quitting contact the State’s Quitline at: 1-866-NY-QUITS.